


On Top Of The World

by TeleKitnetic



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Claudeleth rights, Fire Emblem is my life now I guess, Fluff, Gen, Gender-Neutral My Unit | Byleth, How does one tag???, I've had this account for a year and a half, Mostly Gen, Other, Pre-Time Skip, Seteth is only in here for like five seconds, Teacher-Student Relationship, but he already needs a break, how have I not written anything, loosely based off of HTTYD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2021-01-01 20:01:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21148613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeleKitnetic/pseuds/TeleKitnetic
Summary: “Well, I think that’s due for a change.”Byleth turned to look at him with a small, confused, slightly adorable frown on their face. The cat jumped off their lap and darted over to a bench, where it sat down and began to wash its fur. “What do you mean?”Claude’s mischievous cheshire grin grew in size as he pointed upwards, towards the sky where the birds were still singing and dancing. “How do you feel about a quick ride up in the air?”





	On Top Of The World

“Your wings already exist, all you have to do is fly.”

-Unknown

Silence makes a nice companion once you get used to it. 

Silence can be a comfort in turmoil, a guide through the clamour of war and hate, a guardian against the static and fury. But it is also a tool. When you’re on the hunt, silence is key for finding your prey, for approaching it with no detection, and for slipping a sword right into the nape of its back.

Byleth raised their head, stretching their arms up towards the sky in order to feel a satisfying burn in the muscles around their back and shoulders. The cat that had been dozing off on their lap for the past half an hour gave an unhappy “mrrrp?” and shifted around in order to get comfortable in the new angle. They’d been in the school garden for the past two hours, watching the Garreg Mach Monastery cats strut around practically noiselessly. Because it was a Saturday, nearly everyone was taking advantage of their free time by doing extra studying, reading, chatting, or sleeping. So barely anyone walked by the gardens, leaving Byleth to enjoy the relaxing silence.

For Byleth, the everlasting silence had been a permanent fact in their state of mind; whenever they were on their own in the middle of the woods, the silence was always there. No steady rhythmic beat to fill up their headspace and dull their senses, nothing to distract them from the moment they were living in.

As depressing as their brain made it sound, Byleth preferred the silence. The world could twist and change in ways they couldn’t predict, but the silence would always be there, a constant in a world of chess where they were both the player and the pawn.

A tiny, almost unnoticeable crunch reached their ears; a twig or a dead leaf, perhaps. It wasn’t a cat, the tiny fluffy paws of a cat couldn’t disturb a leaf that much. If it was a dog, then Byleth would’ve heard the familiar sound of panting and breathing. So it was most likely one of the students, but not any student. The pace of the newcomer was soft and delicate, like a hunter approaching its prey. A trained sneak, someone with a sharp mind, sharp skills and an even sharper tongue.

“Hello, Claude.” Byleth yawned aloud, not bothering to turn around.

An easygoing laugh broke the silence as the leader of the Golden Deer house stepped out from behind a bush, walking toward his teacher with his arms crossed. “Wow, Teach!! Your hearing really is outstanding!! Of course, that was my plan all along, really, no one could outsneak a skilled mercenary like you!” He tilted his head to one side, grinning confidently. But the pause Byleth had noticed between them calling him out and his response told the teacher that Claude had not expected them to notice him at all. Byleth eased back into a crosslegged sitting position, gazing up at the tall young man.

“I’m surprised you’re not taking advantage of the enjoyable weather like the rest of your class.” Byleth patted a patch of soft green grass beside them, beckoning their student to come sit down. Claude gave a small chuckle.

“Well, we were earlier, but Lorenz maaaay or may not have lost his mind over an, erm, minor incident that just, well, happened to occur in his room. Somehow, an extremely acidic chemical solution found its way into his room and dissolved his poetry notebook into oblivion. In my opinion, it’s a miracle that that abomination has been wiped off this plane of existence. But it wasn’t our fault!” He added with a weak cough as his teacher gave him a side-eye powerful enough to rival Seteth’s glare.

“I… see.” Byleth stated slowly, watching the younger man tap his fingers together nervously under their scrutinizing gaze. “Well, I guess I shouldn’t really be saying this as a teacher and all, but it is a… tiny bit of a relief that we probably will never have to hear him chant praises about himself during class for a few moons. It was getting a bit disruptive and grating, especially during class.”

“Right!” Claude agreed immediately, sounding a pinch relieved at his teacher’s response. “Every single class it was the same thing, bla bla bla I’m the best, bla bla bla all the ladies adore me, et cetera… it’s any wonder his head can still fit through the homeroom door!!”

Byleth let out a quiet chuckle against their will, breaking their gaze with Claude to look back up at the sky, where a group of birds had taken flight into the sky. They flitted across the sky, performing loops and acrobatic feats around each other. The cat on Byleth’s lap stretched its legs and mewled enviously, eyes trained on the dancing birds above them. Claude let out a slightly bored sigh. “So like… do you always come out here during break?”

“Usually, yes. If I don’t have any papers to grade or lessons to take, I’ll meditate out here to clear my mind and prepare myself for the next class.”

Claude blew a strand of hair out of his eyes. “Sounds kind of boring. I mean, I get that there’s not a whole lot to do on the school grounds, but have you ever thought of maybe stepping out of your comfort zone and trying something exciting and new?”

Byleth gestured around the garden with one hand, scratching the cat under its chin with the other. “Well, it’s just like you said; there isn’t exactly a lot of new activities to do on the school grounds. But I’m fine with what we can do already, I’ll take fishing and delivering letters over being bored out of my mind any day. Besides,” they added, leaning forward to place their head on their palm and their elbow to the ground. “I’ve grown used to the silence. It doesn’t bother me as much as it used to.”

Claude watched his teacher speak, quiet. He swallowed, looking up at the sky as the birds flapped and danced around like mini arrows, before turning back Byleth with a mischievous grin on his face and a twinkle in his eye. The kind of twinkle he got right before he defeated an enemy in battle, or right before delivering a scathing joke to Seteth, or right before dropping a slow-acting stomach poison into Lorenz’s tea.

“Well, I think that’s due for a change.”

Byleth turned to look at him with a small, confused, slightly adorable frown on their face. The cat jumped off their lap and darted over to a bench, where it sat down and began to wash its fur. “What do you mean?”

Claude’s mischievous cheshire grin grew in size as he pointed upwards, towards the sky where the birds were still singing and dancing. “How do you feel about a quick ride up in the air?”

What little color that existed in Byleth’s face immediately drained away. “A-a ride? Like on the Pegasi?” While they prided themselves on excellent skills in almost all academic areas, riding on horseback and cavalry training was not one of them. “Is that really allowed outside of class?”

Claude shrugged. “Everyone in the school does it all the time, except maybe Hilda since she sort of… took a tumble last moon. But that’s besides the point!” He laughed. “You’ve clearly never been up in the air, which is great because it is one hell of an amazing experience!!” The Golden Deer leader stood up and let out a shrill whistle, spooking the remaining cats in the garden.

Byleth recovered from their shock. “Er, Claude. I’ve never actually had training with a pegasus, or any other horse for that matter. Will it really be safe?” They glanced around. The airspace around the monastery was empty. What had their student been whistling for?

Claude gave another chuckle; Byleth didn’t often get to see his smile reach his eyes, but it was in this instant and for some reason it made them nervous. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you don’t fall!! I’m the best wyvern rider in the entire school, and Angel is a real sweetheart! She’ll make the trip easy for a new rider like you!!”

Byleth had enough time to mumble. “Wait… wyvern rider?” before a crash sounded behind them, sending the one remaining cat under the bench darting away for safety. A low, almost affectionate trill rang out and a hot gust of wind hit the back of Byleth’s neck harshly. Their limbs felt locked in place, too stiff from shock to turn around.

Claude, seemingly unperturbed by the disturbance, strode right past his teacher, arms wide and eyes glowing with excitement and affection. “Angel, sweetie! It’s feels like it’s been ages!!” Byleth finally summoned up the courage to turn around. 

Behind them, a large, dark red-brown wyvern with shiny golden scales here and there, as well as metallic golden horns stood at the ready. It gave another guttural, affectionate croon as its rider walked over and attempted to wrap it in an embrace. Claude laughed, scratching a spot underneath the wyvern’s chin as it closed its eyes and let out a trill not unlike a cat purring. “Awww, there we go! Who’s a good girl, Angel? You are!” The wyvern gave him a big, gooey lick as if she was a dog, leaving the young man laughing in delight and a bit sticky.

“So, uh, Teach!” he gestured dramatically to the wyvern behind him. “Meet Angel!! I found her in a ditch on the side of the road when I was young and sort of adopted her, I guess? Or did she adopt me?” Angel the wyvern nuzzled her master happily. “Anyway, I’ve been training alongside her for ages, we’re practically inseparable! She’s the perfect mount for a new rider!” Byleth nodded quietly, eyeing the sharp talons and long, jagged fangs of Claude’s wyvern a bit nervously.

Claude seemed to have a second sense for detecting their emotions, because he walked over and patted them on the back soothingly. “You’ll be fine!! Angel’s a real sweetheart, she’ll go easy on you!” The brown and golden wyvern gave them a side-eye with a mischievous spark in her eyes that reminded Byleth of the beast’s calculating master. This did not ease their nerves. 

Sensing his teacher’s hesitation, Claude grabbed Byleth by the wrist and pulled them towards Angel, who, upon further inspection, was completely saddled up and ready to fly. That sneaky little-! Byleth realized. He had this planned all along!

Pulling his teacher onto the back of the saddle and attaching a chain and toughened leather strap to their waist, Claude sat down in his own seat and picked up the reins; he patted the top of Angel’s head lightly. “Alright sweetheart, take it easy this time.” He gave the reins a light tug. “We don’t wanna give Teach a bad sc-aaaaAAAAAAAARE!!!”

In spite of Claude’s instructions, the brown and gold wyvern shot into the sky faster than a speeding arrow shot by Claude himself. Byleth felt their heart drop lower than their stomach as the gardens and buildings of Garreg Mach began to shrink in size below them.

“It would do you well to know that killing your teacher would not look good on your report card next month!!” Byleth shouted over the howling winds in their ears as they firmly wrapped their arms around Claude’s side and held on as tightly as humanly possible.

“W-we’re not gonna die, Teach!” Claude yelled back in a less than convincing confident tone. “Angel just likes to tease new riders, she’ll calm down any second n- oh sweet holy m-“

Angel tipped her head back and went into a roll. Had it not been for the strap holding Byleth to the saddle (and the fact that they had Claude in a death grip) they probably would’ve gone spiralling off back down to earth, the hard way. Claude tugged harder on the reins as the earth suddenly became the sky. Although Byleth was thought to be (literally) heartless, they swore that something was beating a violent tattoo into their chest.

Claude leaned down as far as he dared to pat the side of Angel’s face. “Okay, sweetie.” He whispered, real anxiety creeping into his words. “We’re all very impressed, you can stop showing off now.” As if to spite him, Angel gave another defiant trill and shot up towards the clouds above them. The grip Byleth had on Claude’s waist could’ve choked a small animal. 

“Oh, I see what you’re doing here.” Claude realized aloud, nearly drowned out by the roaring winds. He ducked lower against Angel’s neck, dragging Byleth forward slightly. The teacher shuddered in fear, staring up at the looming clouds in front of them…

They were going higher, higher, higher, much higher then Byleth had thought was possible. Their vision became nothing but white as Angel passed through the clouds, causing them to close their eyes in pain and duck their head as the cold seeped through their armor. 

But when they opened their eyes again, it was like they were in a whole different world.

The clouds were below them now, and Angel had finally stopped her mad ascent, curving downward slightly to glide through the air. The sun was just half-covered in clouds from its descent towards the far-off mountains, the sky above it coloured all sorts of hues and shades of orange, peach, and pink as if an artist had thrown all those colours across a blank canvas. 

The sight stunned Byleth into complete silence as they unwrapped their arms from Claude’s waist to admire the scenery.

Claude stared out at the sunset too, glancing backwards to smile at his teacher’s expression. Despite the fact that Byleth seemed to give away no emotion whatsoever, their face right now was one of awe and surprise, and it made his heart jump a little in satisfaction. It was nice to see his teacher break through that stone-cold mask they wore every day. 

Raising his hands towards the sky, Claude stretched his arms upwards as if he could touch the colour-splattered atmosphere above them. There the wyvern stayed for what felt like an age, suspended in midair, just the three of them. Then Angel tilted her wings, going in for a sideways roll...

…and her master slipped off the saddle like melting butter off a hot stone, plummeting through the clouds and toward the far off land below.

Byleth’s poor heart fell with him. “CLAUDE!!” They screamed desperately, reaching forward to grab the reins and pull the wyvern around. But there was no need to; Angel was already diving towards the falling student. She rocketed downwards, fast as a rock kicked off the monastery roof. Byleth pressed themselves deep into the saddle in order to avoid getting thrown off, shock and terror coursing through their veins as they kept their eyes trained on their falling student.

Angel’s descent brought them closer and closer to Claude, who was falling straight downward still. As they passed him in the descent, Byleth tried to reach out and grab him, but the force of gravity and the wind kept them pinned to the wyvern’s side. Panic rose in their chest as they saw the grounds of Garreg Mach looming closer and closer ahead of them…

Then, just when their fear peaked and Claude’s eminent doom seemed certain, Angel pulled herself underneath her master, who tucked himself into a ball. The wyvern spread her wings and shot right back up, catching the leader with ease. Claude landed right back on the seat he’d been in before the stunt. He turned his head to grin at his teacher, whose mouth was agape in shock. “Pretty cool, huh Teach?”

“...the reins.”

Claude frowned. “What?”

“THE REINS!!”

The rope of chain and leather controlling the wyvern they were sitting on was flapping around uselessly against Angel’s neck; with no one to control her, Angel was speeding right towards the castle of Garreg Mach. For the second time today, Byleth’s nonexistent heart dropped down to their gut as Claude desperately snatched up the reins and yanked on them with harsh shout, causing Angel to violently turn as they careened towards the side of the castle.

Byleth squeezed their eyes shut and wrapped their arms around Claude’s waist again, squeezing as tightly as they could as they waited for the wyvern to slam into the hard stone wall and end all three of them.

But the blow never arrived. Claude’s cheeky and annoyingly smug voice made them carefully crack one eye open. “Hey Teach, you can look now!”

Angel had managed to pull herself to a stop barely a moment too soon; they were less than a few metres away from the imposing castle of Garreg Mach. Had Claude pulled on the reins just a few milliseconds too late, they would’ve all been smashed into paste on the rock walls.

The wyvern was hovering carefully, flapping her wings every few seconds to keep them afloat. Claude was grinning smugly, leaning slightly against a dorm window. Byleth let go of his waist and leaned backwards with a shuddering sigh. They brushed a tuft of hair out of their face with a shaky hand. “Never…. ever… in the name of goddess… do that again. I will drop your grades so fast your head will spin.”

Claude’s smirk grew even wider. “Okay sure, Teach. I’ll keep that in mind, but technically it wasn’t my fault!! Angel acted on her own!!” The wyvern gave a noncommittal grunt, tossing her head slightly.

Byleth took in a deep breath, steadying the rhythm of their chest. That ride had probably taken at least five years off their lifetime… at least. “As exciting as that was… please give me a warning next time?”

Claude turned, a bit surprised. “Wait, you mean you want to do that again?” The grin on his face widened.

Byleth sighed. “...yes. As terrifying as it was, I did enjoy it. But let’s approach it with a bit more caution next time. And also not do it right after I’ve had afternoon tea.” Their face looked a little green. “But I did enjoy it, don’t get me wrong. Except for the part where you gave me the scare of my life.” Claude grinned like a five year old on a sugar rush and dipped his head in sarcastic respect.

Byleth smiled back and they held eye contact with their student for a few heartbeats before they coughed and looked down. “Well then… should we keep going? You might give someone an awful scare, having a giant terrifying wyvern hovering around the castle.” 

Claude smirked, tightening his grip on the reins. “Oh don’t worry, I’m sure all the guards are used to it by now. I once gave the gatekeeper a good scare though, landed right next to him after a practice fly-around. He thought an invasion was taking place, what a mess that was!!” He tugged on the reins and Angel shot forward towards the gardens, causing Byleth to nearly have a heart attack for the third or fourth time today.

But while they were flying over the campus, it occurred to Byleth that this was the first time in a while that they’d seen a smile on Claude’s face that truly reached his eyes.

~

Seteth was sitting in his room, fervently grading papers from the students. Despite how prestigious Garreg Mach claimed to be, not many of its students seemed too interested in upholding that reputation. Who on earth spelled “Nefarious” as “nafarius”, honestly? And what was with all these tea stains? You’d think that the nobles here would put more of an effort into their work!

He sighed, standing up from his seat to approach the window in his room. Perhaps some fresh air would calm his nerves a bit. Grabbing both curtains, he flung them aside with purpose and let the light shine in.

What Seteth didn’t expect was to see Claude, the Golden Deer ruler, seemingly levitating outside his room. From his angle, the young leader appeared to be nonchalantly standing right in front of the window from the waist up.

Seteth had barely even glanced at him for a second before he slammed the curtains closed again, shock coursing through his veins. It felt as though reality itself was tearing at the seams. No… it’s impossible for a completely normal student to suddenly be able to fly. It must’ve been my imagination, yes, the stress is getting to me and I just… imagined a student standing outside my window.

He counted to ten before opening the curtains again. Claude was gone. Seteth wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead. Stress could really cause you to hallucinate? He’d never thought it possible, but…

“F-Flayn!” Seteth called shakily, walking out his door and down the hall. “I’ve decided to take up that proposal for a short teacher’s vacation Rhea’s been offering!”

~

**Author's Note:**

> So I was chatting with a friend last night and I said "Ok but what if?? Claude was a wyvern rider?? And he took Byleth for a ride on his wyvern and it turned out a bit like that one scene from the first HTTYD movie??" And so then this came into existence. 
> 
> Btw the reason it’s tagged as student/teacher is bc I can only really see their relationship before the timeskip as like platonic student teacher? Then they actually fall in love after the timeskip lol whICH I WILL GET TO IN THE SUPPOSED NEXT CHAPTER HEHEHE
> 
> As for where in the timeline this takes place, I'm honestly still unclear? It definitely takes place before the time skip but after the battle against Miklan. I'll probably write another chapter that takes place post-everything, bc I found out some interesting details about the ending to Claude's S-Support route that made me wanna cry ;w; so there'll probably-definitely be a second chapter!! When I have the time ofc
> 
> Anyway I have a [twitter](https://twitter.com/northernsoulfox?lang=en) in case you guys wanna see me spam shit ab FE3H and other fandoms, this is my first posted fanfic in like four years so I hope y'all like it!!!


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